Conventional technology allows for transmission of a content recorded on a content recording device to a content playback device via an interface conforming to standards such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 1394 or Ethernet (registered trademark). The content playback device then plays back the received content.
Possible scenarios in which such content transmission might occur include recording a digital broadcast program on a content recording device located in the living room, transmitting the recorded program to a content playback device located in the bedroom, and then playing the program back in the bedroom.
If the content is, for example, in MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2-TS (Transport Stream) format, the content playback device needs to analyze the entire received content stream and generate information (hereinafter, “auxiliary information”) necessary for playback or recording of content.
This auxiliary information includes, for example, information on the coding method of video and audio composing the content; a time map that lists a Presentation Time Stamp (PTS) and a Source Packet Number (SPN) for playback times of a predetermined length (such as 0.5 seconds) to allow for playback from any position within the content, fast-forward, and the like; digital copy control information for controlling the level of restriction on recording of the content; and the like.
In order to generate the auxiliary information, it is necessary to analyze each TS packet composing the content stream. The processing load for this analysis grows relatively large. This leads to the problem, for example, that it takes a relatively large amount of time from when the content recording device starts transmitting the content stream upon user request until the content is recorded on the content playback device and is ready for playback.
One known method of resolving this problem is for the content recording device to analyze the content stream, acquire Copy Control Information (CCI), and attach the CCI to the header of any packet in the content stream upon transmission (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).